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"Occupy Wall Street." The Vatican at the Barricades

On the eve of the G-20, the Holy See calls for a universal political authority to govern the economy. For starters, it asks for the introduction of a tax on financial transactions

by Sandro Magister

ROME, October 24, 2011 – In the view of Fr. Thomas J. Reese, a professor at Georgetown University in Washington and a former director of the magazine of the Jesuits of New York, "America," not only is the document released today by the Holy See "to the left of Barack Obama, it [is] to the left of Nancy Pelosi, and it [is] closer to views of the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement than anyone in the U.S. Congress."

In effect, the document released on Monday, October 24 by the pontifical council for justice and peace calls for the advent of a "new world" centered on a universal political authority.

The idea is not unprecedented. It was previously evoked in the 1963 encyclical "Pacem in Terris" of John XXIII, and has been revisited by Benedict XVI in the 2009 encyclical "Caritas in Veritate," in paragraph 67.

"Caritas in Veritate," however, said much else and much more, and the wish for global oversight of politics and the economy was certainly not at its center.

Here, instead, the entire document revolves around this idea, which is presented right from the title:

What is utopian and what is realistic in the invocation of such a supreme world government can be seen in the general disorder that the coverage of the current economic and financial crisis describes for us every day.

But one specific element of innovation supported by the document belongs to the realm of realism: the taxation of financial transactions, referred to as the "Tobin tax."

The document dedicates just a few lines to it. And it is known that the proposal is opposed with strong and well reasoned objections. Just as it is also known that is supported by famous economists, like Joseph Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs.

But in presenting the document to the press, the Holy See has decided to take a highly resolute stance in favor of the "Tobin tax." Not only asking for "reflection" on it, as the document puts it, but responding point by point to the objections and demonstrating the practicability and utility even in the immediate term.

This apologia for the "Tobin tax" was entrusted to the economist Leonardo Becchetti, a professor at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata." And he fulfilled his task with precision and in great detail:

At the table of the heads of state of the G-20, who will meet in Cannes, France next November 3 and 4, there will therefore be this clear statement of position by the Holy See in favor of the introduction of the "Tobin tax," the revenue from which "could contribute to the creation of a global fund to support the economies of countries hit by crises."